Leaving the Lane Driving Deaths Down 40 Percent

JEFFERSON CITY - Improved roadway visibility helped pull down the number of lane departure fatalities on the roads by 40 percent since 2005 in Missouri. The Missouri Department of Transportation said this is the lowest traffic death count in the show me state since 1949.

MoDot said it's made the roads easier to drive on, helping the drop in deaths. Mike Curtit said MoDot has increased the number of rumble stripes and made them bigger, made brighter and bigger signs, wider stripes and other visibility improvements.

"We're using six inch marking along the edges instead of the old four inch," Mike Curtit, the Assistant State Traffic Enginner, said.

818 people died on Missouri's roads in 2010 and nearly 6,000 were seriously injured. In 2005, Missouri had more than 400 land departure deaths. By 2010, the number significantly dropped to below 250.

"I think it's a great thing. I have a son who's gonna be a teenager here very soon. So I worry about the amount of drivers and the amount of distractions that are out there," driver, David Flannigan said.

"I would hope they come up with more measure that would save lives," driver, Donald Whittler said.

MoDot has improved a few thousand miles but the department covers than 33,000 miles. MoDot said it hopes to keep on making more improvements.